Process of manufacturing planished sheet-iron



UNTTED- STATES PATENT OFFIcE;

\V/DEVEES \VOOD, OF PITTSBURG, PEXXSYLYAXIA.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURlNG PLANISHED SHEET-IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,260, dated January1, I884.

I Application filed June 2, 1853. (No specimens 1,

'[0 a whom, it may concern Be it known that I, "\V. DEWBES Wool), acitizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, county ofAllegheny, State of Pennsyl vania, have invented or discovered a new anduseful Improvement in the Process of Manufacturing Planished Sheet-Iron;and I do here by declare the following to be a full, clear,

concise, and exact description thereof.

My present invention relates to the manufacture of a kind of sheet-ironhaving a surface dark in color, but bright and glossy, and not liable tooxidation under the influence of the atmosphere or other usualsurroundings or conditions of-nse. Sheet-iron possessing thesecharacteristics to a greater or less degree is already known in the artunder the names of Russia, Imitation Russia, Planished,&c.,' andprocesses of the manu 2o facturc of the same are described in sundrypatents already granted to me. In the most .of these processes, and infact, as I believe, in all in which by actual use any practical successhas been attained, the broken-down iron sheets have heretofore beensubjected to the acid-scaling operation preliminary to the for-. mationof a protective coating thereon; but several years of practicalexperience in the business have shown that, with such degree of care ascan ordinarily be secured from milloperatives, some sheets will bepassed and worked into final product, in which the acid will not beperfectly n utralized or the alkali will not be completely removed, and,as a result, a small percentage of product is liable to go out, whichwill not be as free as is desired from liability to deterioration inuse. My presout process contemplates the entire disuse of V the acid andalkali treatment and provides for the formation or building up of anoxidized surface on each sheet and on each side of each sheet, over andabove what is secured'in the ordinary workings of the material employed,followed by the reviving or reconvcrsion of such oxidized surface backinto metallic iron, or so nearly to that. state or condition (sometimescalled a nascent state or 0011 dition) that such "revived or reconvertedor nascent surface will enter readily into combi- 1 nation with or willfreely and quickly com- This method of treatment will give a fixed toeach surface of each sheet a coat or wash bine with an oxidizing agentsupplied theret in manner substantially as ,presently to be described,and thereby give an oxide surface adapted to protect the sheet, whichoxide surface being fixed, as presently to be described, 5 is worked byheating and hammering or plan- T ishing till the desired product issecured.

In working my invention, I preferably use, refined cast-iron, and. bykno'wn methods, get abloom of a comparatively high degree 0f purity.This I work down by ordinary forging or rolling operations toshcet'form, of about No. fZO wire-g'age, more or less,) taking carethroughout the operation to keep the material clear of free scale; butatthe same time I secure the formation on each face of each sheet of afixed (as distinguished from a free or raised) black oxide coating, andon such coating I promote, so far as may be, the for mation of a redoxide surface, and to this endga- I give to 'each sheet, whileundergoing the} rolling operation, afree exposure on both sides to theatmosphere, changing or opening; 'f up the sheets frequently if rolledin doubles ff}- or packs, and also use water on the rolls with 7 5considerable freedom, so that it shall run down- I on the sheets whilepassing through, or apply the water directly to the hotsheet by abrushor otherwise, but not in such amount as to cool them through or tointerfere seriously. i

with their regular and uniform reduction by rolling. If any free scaleis raised, it is to be carefully brushed off or otherwise removed.

black oxide coating on each surface of each sheet, and will form more orless red oxide on the top or surface of the black oxide. The sheets thusbroken down, and with the black and red oxide coatings thereon, asthus'described, are'allowed to cool, and I then apply consist-big ofcharcoal-dust, red oxide of iron, and suitable liquid-such as water oroilmade or mixed up thin, so as readily to beapplied with a broom orother suitable imple- 9 ment, and by the use of which the wash is to bethoroughly rubbed in, or the rubbing ac.- -tion is to kept up until thered oxide formed -2 on the sheet and the ingredients. of the wash arewell comm'ingled, and are also distributed IOC with a good degree ofuniformity over the surface of the sheet, on which they remain as a thinfilm or coating. This step in the process is directed especially to thebuilding up or aocumulation of a comparatively thick coating of oxide oneach face of each sheet, and it differs from anything previously done tomy knowledge, in this branch of the art, both in the intentional makingof a red oxide on top IQ of a black oxide by artificial means during thebreaking-down operation, and also inadding thereto an additionalquantity of artificiallyapplied red oxide, and, still further, inrubbing in the artificially-formed and applied red I 5 oxides,withreference to facilitating the operations next to be described. Thepulverized charcoal is used chiefly to aid in the chemical operationssubsequently taking place. In the preparation of this wash afinelypulverized or ground red oxide may be used; or, if not put in at first-,the repeated washings and rubbing of successive sheets, and thercdipping of the brush or broom or other implement into the liquid willsoon so impregnate or charge the wash with the red oxide taken from thesheets that it will answer the purpose in yiew. If g the work thus faris well and carefully done, enough red oxide will be formed on thesheets for the purpose of this invention. The sheets are then matched upin packs-say of from three to six sheets, more or less,-according to thegage of product desired, and are then X heated in an ordinary or anysuitable sheetreheating furnace, and rolled, again heated and rolled inthe manner common in doing such work, until the sheets are brought downto or approximately to the desired gage. The

firstof these beatings should be to or about a I bright red, andsubsequent ones to a lower temperature-say a dull red. During therolling operations the sheets are to be opened up from time to time, tosee that they are clear of I dirt and free scale and do not stick, &c.,in the process of rolling. The shcets,then being cold, are again rubbedas before, separately and on both sides with a wash of red oxide andwater, or with the same wash as previously 1 used, and while they arestill wet therefrom I throw or sprinkle onto each wet surface a coat- 50ing of charcoal'- dust, preferably somewhat coarse, till it is wellcovered at every point" say, thick enough to cover the surface of thesheet from sight; or it may be thicker still without danger of injuriousresults. The sheets, as fast as they are thus coated, are piled one ontop of another, till a package is formed of from, say, twenty to onehundred sheets, more or less; but the sheets, when dry, may be thusbuilt up into a package, with intermediate layers of charcoal, if sodesired,-

but the work can be done with greater ease and facility when the sheetsare wet. Such packageis then charged into a chamber or retort of iron orclay or other suitable material,

which is then closed up airtight and subject- 'ed to external heat-abouta white heat-for from, say, four to eight hours. (more or less, j oriron. The package is then removed with the '75 sheets still at a hightemperature. Immediately thereon, and before any injurious effects areproduced by atmospheric exposure, I quickly remove the refusematerialsuch as ashes, unconsumed charcoal. &c.--from the face of eachsheet, and simultaneously or immediately after supply an oxidizing agentto each revived, reconvertcd, or nascent surface, so

as to form a black or magnetic oxide thereon, and before the internalheat of the sheetor the external air can act to raise or free the oxideso formed I chill or cool the sheet to such a degree as to arrestfurther chemical action. In this wayI get on each surface of each sheeta black oxide of uniform quality and thickness, and fix it so that thesheet is then in condition for further working. In doing this workvarious devices may be employed, and the right to patent such devicesseparately,so far as they may involve invention, is hereby 5 reserved;but, that the present invention may be the better understood, I willdescribe one way of doing it, which Iparticularly claimas of my owninvention. Over and along each surface of each sheet, as soon as it isuncovered or exposed, I play a series of jetsof superheated steam undera high pressure, the jets being of such size and so close together. andstriking the sheet at such angle, that they will thoroughly blow off thewaste material remaining on the sheet, and at the same timewillfurnishto the hot sheet such amount of oxygen hy decomposition) asto convert the revived or nascentiron of the surface, or will form thereon a black or magnetic oxide over its whole .1 to surface, andpractically uniform in thickness. This I follow quickly by anapplication through the use of a sponge, mop, brush, or otherwise,

of cold water, in such manner and amount as to cool the sheetsufficiently to arrest further f1 5 chemical action, either from theinternal heatof the sheet or from the external air, and by so doing Ifix the oxide so formed as against any. tendency to raise or form a freescale; butother suitable means of doing the same work may be employed.Ordinarily the sheets will still be quite warm, and they may then behammered to take out any irregularities such, for example, as resultfrom buckling in cooling. T heyare'then matchedup into packs as before,charged into a sheet-reheating furnace, and raised, say, to a fish-wormred, then hammered thoroughly all over by planishinghagnmers in themanner already known in the art, and this reheating and planishingoperation is repeated one, two, three, or more times, until the desiredsurface is obtained, which is a brilliant blue polished surface.superior in all respects to the best Russia.

'291;2eo I I claim herein as my invention--.

1. In the manufacture of planished sheetiron, the improvedv method ofpreparing broken-down iron sheets for subsequent working, which consistsin coating the same with a wash of red oxide of iron, carbon, and water,or other suitable liquid, substantially as set forth. 7

2. In the manufacture of planished sheetiron, the improved method ofpreparing the broken down iron sheets for subsequent working, whichconsists in rubbing up the red oxide formed on the sheets while beingrolled and simultaneouslyapplying and rubbing in an artificial wash ofred oxide, carbon, and suitable liquid, substantially as set forth.

In the manufacture of planished sheetiron, the improved method ofpreparing the sheets for treatment in a closed retort or chamber, whichconsists in coating the same with'ar; tificially-applied red oxide andpulverized carbon, substantially as set forth.

4. In the manufacture of planished sheetiron, the improved method oftreating the hot sheets as they come from the retort, which consists inquickly removing the waste material therein, reoxidizin g the revived ornascent surface while still hot, and immediately cooling the sheet byartificial'means, substantially as set forth.

5. The improved methodof cleaning and si-' chamber, which consists incausing a series of 5 jets of superheated steam under high pressure todischarge or blow on and along the exposed surface of such sheet whilestill hot from the retort or chamber, substantially as set forth.

6. In the manufacture of planished'sheetiron, the improved method oftreatment embracing the following steps: -first, subjecting the unsealedsheets inpacks, with intervening reviving such oxide surface.reoxidizing such revived or nascent surface, and fixing the oxide soformed, with intermediate heating and rolling and final heating andplanishing, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

hand. V

' IV. DEW'EES IVOOD.

Witnesses:

R. H. WHITTLEsEY, M. CLARKE.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my

